单词 | 指小 |
释义 | 〔antheridium〕-idium [diminutive suff.] from Greek -idion -idium [指小的后缀] 源自 希腊语 -idion 〔toady〕A toady is not a pleasant individual,and the origin of the word makes being a toady even less pleasant.Toady is obviously derived from the word toad. The-y suffix can have diminutive force, and the earliest recorded sense (around 1690) oftoady (now obsolete), "a little or young toad,” illustrates this force. The sense we know has nothing to do with baby toadsbut rather with the practice of certain quacks or charlatans who claimed that they could cast out poison.Toads were thought to be poisonous,so these charlatans would have an attendant eat a toad or pretend to eat oneand then remove the poison from the attendant.Such an attendant is obviously a type of person who would do anything,and thustoadeater (first recorded 1629) was the perfect name for a flattering, fawning parasite. Toadeater and the verb derived from it, toadeat, influenced the sense of the noun and verb toad and the noun toady, so that both nouns could mean "sycophant"and the verbtoady could mean "to act like a toady to someone.” 拍马者并不是一个讨人喜欢的人,这个词的来源使做拍马者这种作法更加不令人喜欢。Toady 很显然是从 toad 这个词衍生而来。 后缀-y 可以有一种指小的效力, Toady 这个词最早有记载(1690年左右)的含义“一只小或幼年蟾蜍”(现已废弃)正说明了这种效力。 我们现在知道的含义与年幼的蟾蜍没有什么关系,而与某些宣称能够驱毒的冒牌医生或江湖郎中的某些做法有关。当时人们认为蟾蜍有毒,所以这些江湖朗中会叫一个手下人吃下一只蟾蜍或假装吃下一只蟾蜍,然后把毒物从他的手下人身体中驱除出去。很明显,这样一个帮手是一种什么事都会做的人,这样,用toadeater (最早记载于1629年)这个词来称呼奉承拍马的寄生者是再合适不过了。 Toadeater 和从它衍生而来的动词 toadeat 影响了作为名词或动词的 toad 和作为名词 toady 的含义, 于是二个名词都可以理解为“拍马者”的意思,而动词toady 有“在某人面前象一个拍马者一样行动”的意思 〔buggy〕A small, light, one-horse carriage usually having four wheels in the United States and two wheels in Great Britain.四轮马车,两轮马车:在美国指小的,轻便的一匹马拉的四轮马车,在英国指两轮马车〔tit〕Tit is an old Germanic word for "small" and is used in various northern European languagesto refer to small objects, animals, or people,especially girls—for example,titta is a Norwegian dialect word for "little girl.” The word is most common in American English in combinationsthat denote various small birds,such as thetitmouse or tomtit. Atitman in the 19th century could mean a small or stunted person,as Henry David Thoreau indicates when he calls his generation "a race of tit-men.”Tit and titman are still used in New England, mostly by farmers to refer to the runt of a litter of pigs.Tit 是古日耳曼语“小”的意思, 在各种北部欧洲语言中,这个词都用来指小的物体,动物或人,尤其是女孩儿——比如,titta 是挪威方言“小姑娘”的意思。 在美国英语中这个词以复合词的形式最为常见,表示各种小鸟类,比如titmouse 或者 tomtit 。 在19世纪,titman 指小个子的人或发育不良的人,正如亨利·戴维·梭罗把他那一代人称为“一个发育不良的人组成的种族”时所指的那样。Tit 和 titman 在新英格兰地区仍在使用, 主要被农民用它来叫一窝猪中最小的一个〔capstan〕A small cylindrical shaft used to drive magnetic tape at a constant speed in a tape recorder.主动轮:指小型圆筒状的驱动轴,用于在录音机中驱动磁带使之恒速转动〔blemish〕 Flaw refers to an often small but always fundamental weakness: Flaw 通常指小而往往是重要的不足之处: |
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